Members of the Los Angeles Native American Community:
In March of 2020, the 10-year census required by the United States Constitution will occur. The Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission urges all of our community members to register for the census and identify yourselves as Native American on the census forms. To make the process as simple as possible, Los Angeles County has initiated a Census Action Kiosk (CAK) program. The CAK program allows organizations to have a computer on site with the census registration program and complete security measures in place to protect the information provided by the individual filling out the forms. The CAK program allows community members to register with the census online through their secure platform at the organization’s location. The Commission has studied the details of the program and are assured that the safety and security of our community’s information will not be compromised in any way.
In fact, the census, which is not political, has the strictest possible security measures in place to protect the personal information on the census forms. For anyone to use any of that information for a purpose other than the census constitutes a felony. The census database is so secure that it has never been compromised.
Our Native American community is historically undercounted in the census. Many of our members have a long-term and well-founded mistrust of government. However, we are also entitled to funding from that same government. If they do not know we are here we will not get the funding that we deserve. In the 2010 census the Native undercount resulted in a 30% reduction in funds to Los Angeles County Native organizations. We urge you to help us maximize our numbers in this census and thereby increase the funding that our Native Community receives from the federal government. Many community organizations, such as United American Indian Involvement, Inc., receive funding through federal government sources that is dependent on our census count. Please help us recover those funds for the betterment of our community and the future of our children.
Thank you for your help in this very important project.
Sincerely,
The LA City/County Native American Indian Commission
Last modified: July 18, 2019
